1. Property Investment Opportunity At Gautrain Station
2. April's Interest Rate Hike - Effect on the Property Market
3. Keeping Your Property Cash-flush
4. Home Loan Survival Tips
5. Renting vs Buying: 4 Property Myths
6. More Proof: Rich People Love Real Estate
7. Get Daring With Retirement Funds
8. What Your Fund Trustees Should Know
9. Draft Law Clarifies Pension Splitting On Divorce
10. Thought for the Month
Property Investment Opportunity At Gautrain Station
Inner City property developer, Aengus has just launched the Skyways Retirement Boutique apartments, which is located next to the new Gautrain Station in Johannesburg. Skyways will service an ageing community looking for upmarket accommodation and superior care.
Subsequent to in-depth research on the retirement facilities market, Aengus has identified that there is a significant shortage of retirement accommodation across South Africa. This shortage, according to a number of retirement specialists, is becoming ever more critical with contributing factors including increased life expectancy, emigration, and a trend towards earlier retirement within the middle to higher income sectors. Thus Aengus’ reason to introduce Skyways as a lifestyle centre for the ageing.
Skyways, which comprises of 71 apartments for the aged, sized between 32m2 and 65m2, is conveniently situated in Aengus’ Argyle Precinct, an entire city block located at the very hub of the Gautrain commuter belt adjacent to Parktown. A large part of this aged facility’s appeal is its proximity to retail, medical and other necessary facilities.
Two chief considerations that mature tenants will invariably need to take into account are the level of security and nursing care. Aengus has ensured that both these factors are unrivalled, with state-of-the-art security features.
On the nursing front, Skyways has ensured that no expense be spared when it comes to care for the aged. Some of the most highly skilled and competent nursing staff have been sourced for both their technical and soft skills that set them apart from other care givers, to bring care and compassion to the work they will do at Skyways. Aengus intends to bring a sense of nobility back to the profession of caring for the aged through the manner in which the Skyways staff will care for residents.
Skyways will welcome able bodied residents but has a full complement of well trained staff to deal with frailer residents who require a more intense level of care and assistance. Medical staff will include matrons, registered nurses, care givers and general helpers as well as doctors on call 24-hours a day.
On site there will be a restaurant and facilities centre with all necessary and luxury services including banking, bridge rooms, laundromat, religious services, therapy and treatment rooms, as well as doctor’s rooms in an adjacent building. Other facilities and services include a library, hairdresser, physiotherapist, aromatherapy services, organised day trips, internet access, postal services and financial and legal advice can be arranged if necessary. Outside of the development is a variety of hospitals in the immediate and surrounding area, as well as a courtesy bus to transport residents to additional amenities such as shopping malls, the airport, banks and doctors.
In wanting to provide a comfortable yet upmarket living environment for the older generation, Aengus will ensure that Skyways receives the finest quality finishes and value added features for a sought after standard of living. The apartments, which will all either offer a balcony or garden, will be stylishly and tastefully fully furnished by Loft in a Box, a division of Aengus Property Holdings focussing on bespoke interiors, with all necessary provisions supplied. The units will feature modern light fittings, fully fitted granite kitchens including fridges and built-in stoves, fitted cupboards, window blinds and quality strip wooden flooring.
Skyways residents will enjoy the lifestyle benefits of plasma TV’s and surround sound in their units, along with a DVD player and free satellite TV channels. Additional benefits include gym membership, daily servicing of units and room service on request. Skyways residents will also have access to the Aengus Lifestyle Card, which provides discounts in over 5000 products and stores, and if desired chefs will be available to prepare private dinners for residents in their flats. There will also be also secure underground parking and a guest suite in the building for visiting family members.
Current South African conditions have been taken into account by Aengus, which will ensure that Skyways is an environmentally friendly building, with a solar power, ‘green’ boiler system and backup generator to cope with load shedding. There will also be prepaid electricity meters and swipe cards pre-loaded for all extras.
Since Skyways falls within the Argyle Precinct, it enjoys comprehensive security measures with the development’s biometric access control, 24-hour manned security stations and armed response.
With prices of the apartments starting from R 420,000; these properties offer a net return of up to 18.40 % per annum.
If you would like to learn more about the investment opportunities currently available in central Joburg please send an email to Anthony Field-Buss.
April's Interest Rate Hike - Effect on the Property - John Loos
The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) announced on 24th April that its policy repo interest rate would rise by 50 basis points, after a brief pause at the January Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) Meeting. This implies unchanged prime overdraft rates for major banks.
With CPIX inflation near 10%, and this rate hike signalling the seriousness with which the SARB takes its inflation targeting job, we are definitely not out of the “danger zone” yet with regards to risks of further rate hikes.
As such, it is advisable to proceed with caution when involving oneself in home-buying, buying in a price range well-within one’s means. Scenario planning to allow for the possibility of further interest rate hiking would be a good practice.
The news is negative from a residential property market performance point of view. Whereas we had expected rates to move sideways for the entire 2008, a scenario which I believe would have led to a gradual recovery in residential demand as from mid-year, such a recovery has in all probability been delayed considerably, and it will take substantially longer for household confidence to start recovering.
I believe that this development begins to raise the possibility of a small period of national house price deflation, which under a sideways rates scenario I believe would have been narrowly avoided.
When splitting up the market by price category, I believe that the combination of rate hiking and high food price inflation will bring the superior performance of the lower-priced end to a close. Lower income groups face the “double-whammy” of rising interest rates as well as high food price inflation. Food price inflation affects lower income households worse because it consumes a higher portion of their total income.
Strongly holiday property-driven areas are probably also in for a more torrid time until such time as the interest rate cycle clearly turns.
The total impact on home loan repayments since the start of rate hiking in 2006 is now becoming more than significant.
On a R1million house the cumulative impact of 450 basis points worth of hikes is an increase in the monthly repayment value by R3,184.
Every event brings good news, however, and the good news in this case is for the rental market and existing landlords. FNB’s rental property barometer has already been pointing towards a recovering rental market, and I believe that in the current environment of uncertainty and negativity the resumption of rate hiking will be an additional boost for rental demand.
Many potential first time buyers would probably want to delay buying, continuing to be tenants for a little longer, while buy-to-let-buying will probably deteriorate further on the news, constraining the supply of new rental stock. The combination of constrained supply and strengthening rental demand is a great recipe for rental market recovery, and I believe that 2008 will see a considerable widening in net income yields on letting property stock.
Keeping Your Property Cash-flush - Mike Spencer
Is your body corporate cash-strapped? Are special levies knocking you? Sectional title specialist outlines 6 easy steps to get on top of the money problems.
Whether we like it or not running a body corporate is like running a business.
Home Loan Survival Tips - Jackie Cameron
Struggling to repay your home loan? Some dos and don'ts to ease the burden. Add yours to the list.
As SA Reserve Bank governor Tito Mboweni contemplates raising the interest rate yet again, many estate agents are reporting that the higher cost of borrowing is affecting lower to middle-income earners the most.
Amid soaring food and fuel prices, it has become a case of struggling to find the extra money needed to keep up with repayments.
Making things worse for those who have hit particularly hard times is that the number of buyers has shrunk, so it has become difficult to sell fast - or at a price that produces the desired profit.
Renting vs Buying: 4 Property Myths - Jackie Cameron
Is it really better to be a landlord than a tenant? Sizing up some "property myths".
As the national housing market slumps, some people are taking this as confirmation that owning property is a bad idea.
Prices are indeed falling in many areas now, mostly in real terms but also in nominal terms, and economists warn that thanks to the latest interest rate hike things are set to get worse before they get better for sellers.
But does this mean we should give up on residential bricks-and-mortar?
More Proof: Rich People Love Real Estate - Jackie Cameron
At a staggering R627,5m, record-breaker shows world's richest still love residential real estate - plus new global stats.
The global economy is taking strain thanks to the US housing-related credit crisis, but that hasn't stopped the richest people in developed economies from betting heavily on real estate.
Get Daring With Retirement Funds - David Carte
Stick it in the money market and you’ll definitely lose.
Most people are too conservative with their retirement money.
That's the opinion of Old Mutual (JSE:OML) actuaries, who point out that if there is no risk in your retirement savings portfolio there is no way it will avoid the ravages of inflation.
What Your Fund Trustees Should Know - Charlene Clayton
For many of us, the money in our company pension fund is all the savings we have at retirement. Yet few of us have the foggiest idea how our fund works – let alone how it’s performing. We’re only too happy to leave it to our trustees. We give you 10 key questions that you should ask the trustees of your fund.
While the trustees of your retirement fund have a fiduciary responsibility to manage the fund, this does not absolve you of your responsibility to make sure that your trustees are doing their job.
Draft Law Clarifies Pension Splitting On Divorce - Laura du Preez
Draft legislation which is expected to be tabled in parliament shortly should bring relief to divorcees who have been unable to access their share of their former spouses' retirement funds despite recent changes to the law and a ruling on the matter by the Pension Funds Adjudicator.
The draft General Financial Services Laws Amendment Bill contains provisions to amend the Pension Funds Act to clearly state that every divorcee who has been awarded a share of a former spouse's retirement fund in a divorce order will be able to access the benefits with effect from September 13 last year.
The efforts of many divorcees who were divorced before this date to access these benefits have been thwarted by retirement funds and their administrators, which claimed that the law was unclear.
I buy when other people are selling.
- J. Paul Getty (1892 - 1976)
